


Heavy Confessions

by ahhfic



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cop AU, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, everyone ends up working for the police station, except Oikawa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 18:29:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6162662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahhfic/pseuds/ahhfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is basically a Seijō Cop AU fic set at Christmas time! <s>Basically Yahaba’s feelings change for a certain cop. </s></p>
            </blockquote>





	Heavy Confessions

**Author's Note:**

> It’s in Yahaba’s perspective. Everyone’s four-five years older from their age right now in the manga. This fic is a train wreck and two months late, I’m sorry. Was inspired by @ikipin‘s undercover cop au to try my hand at writing a cop au and by a prompt ideas list on tumblr. Disclaimer: I don’t really know anything about how police stations work or how staff events work; I’m just going off of what I see on movies and shows. So there’s definitely some mistakes in this.

_The annual Christmas party_ is printed boldly on the inside of a card given to Yahaba that morning at work. An official invitation to a staff event. His lips purse as he taps the card against his other hand, deciding if he should go or not. _No one would notice if I didn’t, right? Or what if they do? Then I would seem rude._ He glances at the time on the stove reading it’s almost seven. _It starts soon… Maybe I should just stay home._ He lays the card down on the counter and picks up his phone to text Oikawa that he’s not going. But as he’s finishes typing the message, a knock comes from the door and not a second later the door opens to reveal his long time friends, Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Yahaba gapes at them. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Coming to get you, of course.” Oikawa’s eyes glance over his appearance, his eyebrows furrowing. “Why aren’t you dressed? It’s starts in half an hour.” Oikawa grabs his arm and suddenly Yahaba is being pulled into his bedroom. Iwaizumi follows behind them and leans against the door frame to watch. He almost trips as he walks towards his bed, still feeling frazzled by the suddenness of his friends in his home. “Um, Oikawa…”

“Hmm?” Oikawa is busy rummaging through his closet.

“I don’t know if I want to go. You guys go without me.”

Oikawa turns back to him, frowning. “Why not?”

Yahaba shrugs. “I don’t feel good?” He lies.

Oikawa gives him a knowing look. “Come on,” He drawls out, grinning. “It’ll be fun. Free drinks. Remember last year when you came home with us and we got so drunk that I convinced Iwa-chan to dance for us?”

Yahaba snickers. “How is that a selling point?”

Oikawa laughs. “It was fun, wasn’t it? … Please?”

Yahaba sighs and gives in, knowing that what Oikawa wants, Oikawa usually gets somehow.

“Alright.”

Oikawa grins as he skips back over to his closet and shifts through the clothes again.

“My God, do you ever throw out your old clothes?” Oikawa comments as he stops on an old volleyball shirt.

“Ha, you’re one to talk.” Iwaizumi grumbles.

Oikawa finally picks something and pulls it off the hangers. He hands the dress pants and shirt to Yahaba.

“We’ll be waiting in the kitchen.” He says as he heads out of the room. Iwaizumi in tow, but not before he gives Yahaba an apologetic look. Yahaba looks down at the shirt Oikawa handed him and his eyebrows rise. It’s his nicest one, a dark red button up. The dress pants are charcoal grey. He pops in the last button on his shirt before he looks in the mirror and shrugs. He can’t complain. Oikawa has always had a good fashion sense. He fingers through his hair to comb out any tangles before turning the light off and exiting the room.

In his kitchen, Oikawa is looking through his homemade cookbook of his favorite recipes. Iwaizumi stands behind him with a hand resting on the bar.

“Are you guys ready?”

Oikawa straightens up. “Ah, yes,” He stands up, making Iwaizumi move back. He points to a page in the book. “Can we burrow this? This dumpling recipe looks good and Iwa-chan says my way sucks.”

Yahaba shrugs, “Sure.”

“Great! Hey, are you coming to our Christmas dinner next weekend? We’re inviting a few others from the station and from my work and some of our family members too!” Oikawa says as he pulls out the page from the rings of the binder. He hands it to Iwaizumi who folds it up and puts it in his pant’s pocket.

It’s silly that Oikawa asks considering Yahaba’s went to his Christmas dinner for the past three years. “I come every year, don’t I?”

They exit the front door and while Yahaba locks it up, he hears the other two argue behind him about whose driving to the hotel where the Christmas party is.

“I drove the whole time during patrol today. Plus it’s your car.” Iwaizumi gripes and opens the passenger door.

Oikawa’s lips pout as he rolls his eyes, but he slides into the driver’s seat anyway.

Yahaba chuckles softly. He finds it funny that Oikawa still pouts like that. He guesses being dramatic with Iwaizumi is just a part of his friend’s personality along with how serious he is about opening a gardening shop and his passion for volleyball.

What he doesn’t guess is that he’d not be the only one they were picking up tonight.

When Yahaba climbs into the back seat, he is startling met with Kyoutani Kentarou, another coworker of his that he’s known since high school. But it makes sense why he’d be here. Iwaizumi is his partner and he’s really the only other employee in the precinct that Kyoutani respects, along with their boss.

“What’d they do? Drag you out of your apartment?” Yahaba jokes as he rests against the back seat and puts his seat belt on. 

Kyoutani shrugs, “I asked if they’d pick me up since we live in the same neighborhood.”

“Hmm… no date?” He teases but he knows he shouldn’t, but that’s all their somewhat friendship is.

Kyoutani finally turns away from the window and his eyes narrow at Yahaba. “Neither do you.”

“Touché,” Yahaba drops the conversation in favor of looking out the window at the pretty decorations in store windows as they drive through town.

When they arrive to the hotel, Yahaba takes a deep breath to prepare himself to see everybody he sees on a mostly daily basis. There are a few Yahaba likes: a short fella who also does emergency dispatch operator named Watari, a tall guy with thick eyebrows who is a detective named Matsukawa and Sheriff Irihata. But there are a couple who make Yahaba want to pull his hair out like Kyoutani: another emergency dispatch operator named Hinata Shouyou but only out of irritation because he’s always too loud, and another policemen named Kageyama Tobio who sometimes forgets he can’t argue with Hinata inside the operator room.

Kyoutani, who is walking ahead of him and the other two, opens the door and lets Iwaizumi and Oikawa walk in first. Yahaba, thinking he was going to hold it open for him too, walks forward but is startled when Kyoutani cuts in front of him and lets go of the door, making it almost hit Yahaba on the side of his head. He gasps and yanks the door open and walks in, sending daggers at Kyoutani’s back. He follows them to a room that’s down a hallway off the lobby.

White Christmas lights hung all across the ceiling in rows. A huge tree with ornaments and tinsel stands by a wall on the left. There are a few rectangular tables covered in red table cloths with fake holly placed in the center. In a way, it’s cute but some of the decoration seem a little tacky for Yahaba’s taste. Maybe it’s because the walls are a bright yellow and it kind of reminds him of fast food restaurants. Yahaba figures Oikawa agrees too since they kind of have the same sense of style. When Yahaba moved into his current apartment, Oikawa insisted on furniture shopping together since it was around the same time him and Iwaizumi moved into together. They liked a lot of the same things: fabric couches over leather, glass tables instead of wooden, and more.

He shuffles around a few other policemen dancing with their significant others to reach to the other side of the room were the open bar is and sits down on a nice cushioned stool.

“Can I get a soda? Whatever you got is fine.” He asks the bartender when their eyes meet, not in the mood to drink anything alcoholic tonight. Something about drinking in a room full of coworkers that happen to be cops makes Yahaba feel a little nervous even though he knows more than half of them here already have alcohol in their systems.

He sits there for a while looking around at the people who are here and wonders who got stuck working tonight. He doesn’t see Watari or his other coworker Ennoshita that he’s recently become friends with. He chuckles when he sees Oikawa with a grin on his face as he pulls a reluctant Iwaizumi towards the others that are dancing. He smiles fondly at the old man that works in the evidence room slowly swaying with his wife who brings homemade goodies to the station every Saturday.

“What are you smiling at?” Comes from beside him.

It’s Kyoutani who is sitting two stools away from him drinking something out of a glass tumbler. “Nothing that would interest you probably.”

“Whatever.”

He frowns at him and turns away to look out at the dancing people again.

-

Later, people begin to leave, a few at a time. Yahaba stands by the Christmas tree, humming along to his favorite holiday song. He admits he’s glad that Oikawa made him go. Things like Kageyama’s funny dancing and Matsukawa arriving in a Santa outfit will make good memories. 

He doesn’t do much for the next thirty minutes except walk around and talk to few coworkers he’s acquainted with or sit at the bar alone and play games on his phone. At one point Iwaizumi joins him at the bar. Yahaba thinks they’ll be leaving soon if Iwaizumi’s tired eyes are anything to go by.

Yahaba is just walking out of the restroom in the lobby when someone brushes past him in a hurry. Puzzled, he looks up to see Kageyama rushing past him who is following a stumbling Hinata outside the entrance. 

“Dumb-ass, Hinata! Get back here!” Kageyama shouts as he exits the building.

“Yahaba!” Someone shouts his name from behind him and he turns his head to find it is Kyoutani who stumbles over to him. His head is down and he almost trips on his own feet onto Yahaba but Yahaba’s hands spring forward to hold him steady which is difficult because of how heavy the guy is. Yahaba sighs. _Of course, leave it to Kyoutani, to be the one employee who gets drunk at a work event._

“What do you want?”

Kyoutani’s head lifts up and Yahaba can definitely tell he has had a lot to drink tonight by the stupid grin on his face. He answers sluggishly, “Just wanted to see- you- where you,” He pauses, “Were.” Grossed out by the foul breath that wafts across his face, Yahaba pulls back, blinking and eyes his friend. Kyoutani hiccups as he stares hard at Yahaba’s chest.

“Uh,” Yahaba pauses, not knowing what to do with his friend. Kyoutani hiccups again, his head rolling down and his knees bend forward, putting too much of his weight on Yahaba to support. Yahaba can feel his arms about give in. He bites down on his lip as they start to tremble and eventually let’s Kyoutani falls into a heap on the ground with a grunt. Two women walking together pass by and glance down at Kyoutani as they walk by and it’s a little embarrassing even for Yahaba who could just walk away and ignore Kyoutani.

Maybe it was pity or empathy, but something makes him stay to help Kyoutani stand back up. For a split moment, he wonders if he should go get Iwaizumi but Iwaizumi isn’t a babysitter and he shouldn’t bother him. Then again, neither is he but with it just being them two in the lobby he is oddly reluctant to just leave Kyoutani there. _He may walk outside into oncoming traffic for all I know._ And with that thought, he kneels down to see how Kyoutani is and chuckles to himself because Kyoutani’s eyes are close but he has a cat’s grin, and it just looks so odd on him.

“You okay there, buddy?” He can’t help but laugh.

He places a hand on his shoulder and feels his skin is hot even over his shirt.

“Hey, Kyoutani?”

Kyoutani’s head lifts up and stares straight at Yahaba with such an intense look, but one that doesn’t seem stony or angry. It takes Yahaba back for a moment, not knowing how to react.

He swallows and shakes off the confusion and stands back up. He grabs Kyoutani’s hand and pulls on it, trying get Kyoutani to stand up. “Come on,” He huffs, “Let’s go outside and get some fresh air.”

It takes about five attempts, irritatingly enough, for Kyoutani to get back on his feet and Yahaba slowly walks with him towards the hotel’s entrance. When they step outside, the chilly night air is refreshing against his cheeks and Yahaba spots a bench down the sidewalk. He pushes Kyoutani down on it and exhales as he sits down too and looks up at the sky, taking a moment for himself. Though that doesn’t block out the heavy breathing coming from Kyoutani.

Even though it is bone-chilling cold and Yahaba could think of a dozen other things that would be much warmer that he could be doing right now, he honestly doesn’t mind sitting here for a moment. Even with Kyoutani as company. The snow is beautiful and even the sounds of the cars driving through the sludge on the road is something he can appreciate.

“Yahaba?” 

“Hmm?”

For a moment Kyoutani is quiet, staring at the snow in front of them, but when he does speak, the next thing that comes out of his mouth has Yahaba frozen to the bench.

“Shigeru.” Kyoutani thickly repeats his first name for several seconds, getting quieter with each time until the drunken man is just mouthing the name. It has Yahaba blushing, a little uncomfortable. Kyoutani straightens up suddenly and he reaches out and places his hands on Yahaba’s shoulders. His lips press together tightly and his eyes bore into his chest with such vulnerability it has Yahaba looking away.

Yahaba unintentionally holds his breath in when Kyoutani looks up at him with such an intense gaze he didn’t know a drunk person could possess and barely audibly whispers, “I’ve always liked you.”

Yahaba moves back, shocked, wondering if Kyoutani is really off his rocker enough to spew fake love confessions randomly to anyone standing near him or if it’s something else.

_It can’t be something else. It would make no sense for Kyoutani to have feelings like that for me._

Yahaba shakes his head and goes with the first guess. He’s surprised again when he feels Kyoutani fall into his lap and gapes down at him who is just laying there. He pushes at his back, trying to get him to move. “Ugh. Get off me. You’re too heavy.”

“No.” He hears Kyoutani say against his thigh.

He gives up when Kyoutani doesn’t move and reaches for his phone in his pocket.

He calls Iwaizumi and when he answers, he doesn’t wait for the other say anything before he begins talking, “Sorry to bother you, but can you come help me?”

He hears Iwaizumi answer, “What?”

Yahaba sighs, “It’s Kyoutani. He’s drunk and now he’s laying on my lap and he won’t get off. He’s heavy and I can’t push him off. We’re outside.” He explains.

“Um, okay. I’ll be right there.”  The phone line clicks and he sticks his phone back into his pocket. He tries to shake Kyoutani to get him to move but it’s no use. The way he’s positioned on his lap with his back facing up and how he’s just too heavy is hard for Yahaba to lift off. He watches the door, waiting for Iwaizumi to come out but is distracted by Kyoutani when he speaks out again.

“Did you know that I had a big crush on you back in high school?” His head moves to the side so that he’s facing the road. “Still do.”

Yahaba wishes Kyoutani would just shut up. He becomes more uncomfortable as his face heats up. “You were hot.” He chuckles, “Are.”

Yahaba glances at the doors and is glad to see Iwaizumi walking out with Oikawa behind him, who looks tired.

“Is he asleep?” Iwaizumi asks when he approaches them. He grabs his arms and lifts him up to lean him back on the bench and Yahaba notes that he’s frowning.

“No. He’s just acting weird.”

Iwaizumi nods. “Okay, buddy. I think it’s time for you to go home.” He hooks his arms under Kyoutani’s and hauls him up. It takes some effort from both Iwaizumi and Yahaba to guide Kyoutani to the car that’s parked down the road, but when they get there, Yahaba opens the back door and pushes Kyoutani in. Kyoutani falls backward onto the seat and moans.

“You think he’ll throw up in your car?” Yahaba wonders.

“If he does, I’ll make him pay by having him drive the whole time for our next shift.” 

Thankfully, Kyoutani doesn’t throw up on the way to his house.

-

When Yahaba gets home, he lays down on his couch for a moment because he has a slight headache from sitting in close proximity with his friends who smelled like alcohol. He rubs his eyes and when his dress shirt becomes too uncomfortable to lay in, he strips it off along with his pants and shoes. He glances at the clock hung on a wall to see it’s two in the morning. He didn’t realized how late it got and shuffles to his room to get some sleep. He falls on his bed with a grunt and climbs under the soft covers and moves into a comfortable position. But sleep doesn’t come easy because his mind is still on the night’s events with Kyoutani. He can’t help but wonder why Kyoutani would say those things.

_Did he think I was someone else? But that wouldn’t explain why he was saying my name. Maybe he turns into a sap when he’s drunk?_

The thoughts don’t stop for a while and Yahaba wouldn’t be able to pinpoint what time he fell asleep so it’s no surprise when he wakes up that morning, feeling dizzy, and his eyes have a hard time staying open.

His Saturdays usually consists of doing laundry and waste away on the couch watching sitcoms, and that’s exactly what he does today too. Though hes not feeling very relaxed today because of his thoughts driving him mad. He can’t get this dream he had last night out of his head, popping back into mind when he’s not distracted by the television or his phone. Its worse while hes folding laundry because folding basically muscle memory and that let’s his mind wander.

He had dreamed of last night but with a different ending. One where he goes home with Kyoutani. Which doesn’t really surprise him more than it should considering it’s _Kyoutani._ Kyoutani’s confessions affected him more than he thought. His feelings towards the other begin to change, though he can’t figure out exactly what they’ve changed into.

By the end of the day, Yahaba goes to bed early since he has work the next morning. He also knows Iwaizumi and Kyoutani have a shift tomorrow too, and he’s anxious because he doesn’t know if he should say something to Kyoutani when he sees him. _Should I say anything at all? It’s not really a big deal, just drunken confessions that could be fake. But why can’t I just drop it and pretend it didn’t happen?_

_-_

Yahaba is sitting alone in the break room drinking coffee, finally having a moment to himself after taking 911 calls. At first, when he got this job, he almost quit because of the emotional toll it had on him. There were times where he’d wondered if an ambulance had reached the person reporting. Over time and with talks with Watari, who was also in the same boat, it got better. He just had to tell himself to think the positive outcome happens to everyone, though he’d be stupid if he really believed that. But sometimes, he just got think positive to get over something.

He’s sitting at one of the round tables in the middle when the door opens across the room behind him. He turns around, curious to see who else is on break, and is happy to see it’s Matsukawa. When he notices Yahaba in the room, Yahaba smiles and gives a small wave. Matsukawa returns it before going over the refrigerator and pulls out bottled water and a plastic bag.

He walks over to where Yahaba is sitting and pulls out a seat for himself one down from Yahaba.

“So, what kind of emergency calls have come in today?” Matsukawa asks while pulling out a bowl from the plastic bag.

“There was an old man who thought someone broke into his house but it just ended up being his wife who was returning from the store with the newspaper.”

Matsukawa chuckles.

Yahaba grins as he remembers the woman who was at the work event the other night with Matsukawa. “So …” Matsukawa raises an eyebrow at him. “Whose the girl from the other night ago?”

Matsukawa is usually a calm person with a blank expression ninety percent of the time during anything, but he has his moments where he sort of reminds Yahaba of Hanamaki.

“She’s cute, isn’t she?” He starts, “She works at the store where I stop to eat lunch sometimes. She’s almost always the one that waits the table I sit at.”

Yahaba giggles as Matsukawa goes on with describing their first date that was a month ago, when the door to the break room opens again with a lot more force than necessary. It’s Kyoutani, who doesn’t notice them as he stomps over to the refrigerator.

“What’s with him?” Matsukawa asks him quietly but Yahaba stares at Kyoutani as he yanks the refrigerator door open.

When Kyoutani finally notices them, his steps falter as his eyes land on Yahaba. He quickly looks away though and exits the room.

“He’s acting more moody today.” Matsukawa comments as he continues to bite into his sandwich. Yahaba nods, wondering why that could be.

-

Yahaba has shifts everyday that week, and sometimes he sees Iwaizumi and Kyoutani pass by the dispatcher room but not as much as they used to. They’ve been staying out in the patrol car more. He sees them sometimes in passing when Yahaba is leaving and they pull up. He wonders if they got a new schedule or if Kyoutani has them avoiding the building until Yahaba is gone.

-

It’s a little after four p.m. when Yahaba gets ready to go to Oikawa’s dinner. And as second best friend to Oikawa Tooru, it would be a sign of betrayal if he doesn’t show up, according to Oikawa. He passes by a mirror examining his outfit that consists of comfortable shoes and jeans and a clean sweatshirt that’s forest green. He grabs his jacket off the rack by the door and gloves on the table beside it and slides them on.

When he arrives at his friend’s apartment, his whole body is shaking from the five minute walk from his place. Maybe walking outside while it was snowing without a proper coat on was a dumb idea. He wipes the hair that’s dampened out of his face as the door opens by Iwaizumi.

“Hey, Yahaba. Glad you came. I need a break.” Iwaizumi sounds ticked off. Yahaba steps in and kicks off his shoes. He is the first to arrive. Iwaizumi pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket.

“From what?” Yahaba asks, confused.

“From Oikawa,” He says roughly as he walks out the door. “I’ll be back in a few.”

Yahaba watches the door shut before he wanders into the kitchen. Oikawa who looks distressed as he is pulls a pan with burnt … something in it out of the oven.

He drops the pan into the sink and groans.

“Need help?” He offers.

Oikawa turns to him and physically lights up. “Yahaba-” He cries out while reaching with open arms for him. He latches onto Yahaba and whines on, “This dinner is not going to plan! I accidentally burnt the rolls. I ran out of milk earlier and had to wait on Iwa-chan to get back from the store with it and that took time away from basically making everything!” He pulls back, frowning at the front door. “And now Iwa-chan is mad at me for inviting our neighbors.”

His eyebrows furrow in question.

“Iwa-chan doesn’t like them. Their dog barks too much.” Oikawa explains.

“Well,” Yahaba thinks of how he can help his friend feel better. “I don’t really know how to help you out with Iwa-chan, but I can help you out in the kitchen if you want,” He offers, waiting.

Oikawa nods and then quickly kisses his cheek before Yahaba can back away. “Thank you.”

-

More familiar faces begin to show up: Matsukawa, Hanamaki, Oikawa’s family, and later on, Iwaizumi’s mom. Yahaba walks back into the kitchen to see Oikawa is pulling out plates from a cabinet. “Is this everyone?”

Iwaizumi walks in from behind him. “No. Kyoutani is running late. He still had some reports to finish.”

When Kyoutani does arrive, his big puffy coat he’s wearing is spotted with snow and his nose is rosy red. The snow falls onto the floor when he pulls it off along with a red scarf that looks nice against Kyoutani’s neck. He blinks, realizing what he’s thinking. He attentively watches Kyoutani, waiting to see if he will acknowledge him as he walks more inside. Kyoutani glances around the room, his eyes passing by the couch where Yahaba is sitting at. Yahaba tries to give a friendly smile when they make eye contact but it’s a feeble attempt due to still feeling strange towards the other. Thankfully, Kyoutani doesn’t look at him for long before he’s following Iwaizumi into the kitchen.

-

When dinner is ready, Oikawa starts by thanking everyone for coming. Yahaba gets a specific thank you for being a big help when he arrived and Yahaba gives Oikawa a short nod. Yahaba smiles around his fork as the food hits his tongue. _The meal is even better than last year’s._

“Wow, Tooru! This is really good.” Oikawa’s dad who is at the end of the table on Yahaba’s right compliments. He also hears sniffling coming from his right and looks down to see it’s his mother, who looks proudly at her son who is sitting across from her. Oikawa has a satisfied grin, and Yahaba smiles fondly, glad that his friend is happy and that he’s here and apart of this new tradition.

At the end of Yahaba’s second year in high school, he worried that he’d never hear from the third years again after they’d graduated. But Oikawa kept in touch with him and later on in his third year, he found out Watari was keeping in touch with Matsukawa too.

Oikawa even visited during Yahaba’s college years sometimes. Yahaba dropped out of university in his third year though. It became too much stress and really, Yahaba just felt sick of doing school work. One day, when he was visiting Oikawa, he had mentioned that the police station down town was looking for new people for many different positions. Something about a few of them retiring, his friend explained. It wasn’t really intriguing at first. But after learning from Oikawa that Watari was hired, and Iwaizumi was still in training, it started to. He went home and thought about it. Wondering if college really was for him or if he should just get a job already.

The thought of having enough money to get his own place was what sealed the deal for him. Being in school, he wasn’t able to have a full time job and for the past year and a half, he had to deal with roommates. So he took a shot in the dark and applied for the job training and the rest was history. On his first day of the job, Yahaba was shown around the building and when they walked into the break room, he saw Iwaizumi there and sat beside him was none other than Kyoutani. He assumes they stayed in touch after school as well. But still, that was a bit of a surprise. Kyoutani doesn’t really seem like the law enforcer type.

-

It’s almost eight by the time people begin to leave, the first being their neighbors and Iwaizumi’s mom who had a night shift at the only hospital in town.

Yahaba can tell Oikawa is tipsy from the wine as he clumsily moves around in the kitchen, cleaning things up. After years of seeing Oikawa in almost every state, including being drunk, Yahaba can say that the former setter gets really clumsily when he drinks.

Yahaba offers to help clean off the table, while everyone else, besides Oikawa’s mom and Iwaizumi, goes back into the living room to watch a baseball game on the television. Yahaba isn’t really a fan of the sport so he’s not interested when he hears Hanamaki shout, “Ha! Pay up, Mattsun.”

Yahaba is wiping down one end of the table when Oikawa stands beside him and wraps an arm around his shoulder in a side hug.

“You’re such a good friend, Yahaba-kun. Thank you for helping me clean up.” He turns to his mother who is washing dishes. “You too, mom.” Iwaizumi picks up the rest of the cups left on the table and moves them onto the counter instead. He walks closer to Oikawa who is now packing up left overs in containers and his hand reaches out to touch Oikawa’s arm. Yahaba chuckles to himself when he notices Iwaizumi has to stand a little on his toes to kiss Oikawa’s cheek. Yahaba turns away to give them privacy but hears Iwaizumi say affectionately, “Thanks for dinner, babe… I’m sorry about earlier.”

Yahaba feels a deep yearning in his chest. He’s not really a romantic kind of guy but sometimes he just wishes he had someone he could share memories with or share his bed with. He sighs and continues wiping down the other side of the table now. _It is funny though,_ he amuses. _I used to envy their volleyball skills and now I envy their relationship._

-

It’s almost ten when almost everyone has left. There’s only Iwaizumi, Kyoutani, Matsukawa, and himself sitting in the living room. Oikawa is sitting at the kitchen table, reading one of his textbooks on water-friendly plants. The game highlights are playing on the television. The only one who seems really interested in it is Kyoutani. Iwaizumi seems to be almost falling asleep and Matsukawa is watching something on his phone. Yahaba is just sitting there, trying to pay attention to the television and not stare at Kyoutani, who has ignored Yahaba all night.

So when Kyoutani excuses himself to go to the bathroom, Yahaba notices the look Matsukawa is giving Iwaizumi. He seems to be trying to express something but Iwaizumi seems to not get it as his eyebrows rise at the other and asks “What?”

Matsukawa glances at him, confusing Yahaba. “Ask him.” He says quietly.

_Huh? Ask me what?_

Iwaizumi is confused at first but he shakes his head. “No. I’m meddling in between this. It’s their business.” Iwaizumi says which really doesn’t clear things up for Yahaba. _What the hell are they talking about?_

Matsukawa huffs, “Well then I will.”

“Suit yourself. But you only have yourself to blame if Kyoutani gets mad.”

_Kyoutani?_ Yahaba finally speaks up again, suspicious of what they’re talking about. “What are you guys talking about?”

For a moment, he looks unsure while Iwaizumi is giving Matsukawa a scolding look which makes Matsukawa address him again, still ignoring Yahaba. “Look, Kyoutani isn’t gonna do anything about it. And I think Yahaba should know.” He turns to Yahaba now. “Do you like Kyoutani?”

Yahaba gapes at him, not knowing how to answer. “What?”

Matsukawa continues, “Because he likes you.” His eyebrows twitch, considering something. “Well, more like obsessed, but he thinks he can hide it,” He mutters.

Yahaba breath is stuck in his throat, feeling like he’s been caught robbing a store and the cops have spot him…

_Well … they are cops._

“Uh,” Yahaba blinks at both of them. “I’m sorry, what?”

Iwaizumi sighs and peers up at Matsukawa again. “The one that needs a confrontation is in the bathroom, not Yahaba.”

Yahaba sees the light from the bathroom expand on the floor as the door opens. _Oh god._ Yahaba can sense the impending doom about to happen.

“Guys,” Yahaba tries to warn, but Matsukawa interrupts him. “Yeah, but Kyoutani’s not gonna do anything about it. If we just sat and watched like we have for the past four years, we’ll be in our fifties before Kyoutani even considers confessing to Yahaba.”

“Guys!” Yahaba yells to get their attention, but he’s staring at Kyoutani who enters the living room only to go rigid upon hearing what Matsukawa is talking about.

In Yahaba’s peripheral vision, the two look up at him. “Yeah?” But they notice Yahaba looking worriedly at something behind them and they turn to see Kyoutani too.

Kyoutani’s usual blunt expression morphs into an angry frown at first that is directed at Matsukawa. He looks pissed at Matsukawa, by the way his eyes narrow on him and his shoulders hunch up by his neck. But then he glances to Yahaba and he seems stricken with fear. Yahaba has a hard time keeping his eyes on him. He should have just told Matsukawa to shut up before Kyoutani stepped back into the room. Why didn’t he? Did he want to see how Kyoutani would react to his secret getting out? _Is it really true then,_ Yahaba wonders.

Kyoutani looks distraught as he darts towards the door on the other side of the living room with hard but shaky steps and his hands ball up into fists.

“I’m leaving now. Thanks for dinner.” He says without looking back, but Yahaba can hear the vulnerability in his voice. Its kind of heartbreaking, because Yahaba knows he must be feeling incredibly embarrassed or vulnerable right now. He’s never seen Kyoutani like this before and it’s unsettling.

Kyoutani yanks the door open and walks out. 

He takes a breath, realizing he stopped breathing for that whole moment.

Matsukawa frowns down at the carpet. “Shit, I guess I should’ve waited till he left for home.”

Iwaizumi mutters, “You think?”

Yahaba stares at the door, Kyoutani’s face stuck in his mind. He glances at the coat rack beside it to see Kyoutani’s is still there and remembers the snow outside. _Idiot._ Yahaba gets up and grabs the coat and scarf before sliding on his shoes.

“Yahaba?” He ignores them as he heads out of the apartment. Kyoutani is no where in the hall. _God, he’s moving fast, h_ e thinks as he heads for the elevator. When the elevator doors slide open to the first floor, Yahaba looks around the lobby and doesn’t spot Kyoutani anywhere in there either.

He jogs to the door, huffing as the cool air outside hits his face and arms. _Shit, I forgot my own coat._ Yahaba stomps through the snow leaving a trail next to another freshly made trail, heading in the direction to Kyoutani’s home. In the near distance he sees Kyoutani, his shoulders hunched high near his ears and his hand stuffed into his jeans pocket. Yahaba sprints to catch up with him, the snow making a little more difficult.

“Kyoutani!”

Kyoutani stops and turns around, definitely shocked to see Yahaba who is heavily panting from the little sprint in the cold, its chillness nipping at his arms. His throat feels too dry and he starts to shiver.

“You forgot,” He lifts his hand that’s holding the coat. “Your coat.”

Kyoutani glances at his coat and straightens up, but stills seems timid. He hesitantly takes the coat and scarf out of his hands and holds it in his own.

Yahaba scoffs. He didn’t just run after Kyoutani in the snow, to give him his coat just for him to hold onto it. “Well, put it on.”

Kyoutani’s hands flex around the coat, looking at Yahaba questionably, lightly shaking as he pulls it on and wraps the scarf around his neck. He doesn’t meet Yahaba’s eyes as he stands there, awkwardly. Yahaba is at a lost for what to say, or if he should run back inside like a coward and keep on ignoring this thing between them now.

He closes his and takes deep breath. He doesn’t want to do that. The past two days at work have been hard, because when he wasn’t on call, his thoughts consisted of freaking Kyoutani and that staff party. And if was on break, he wondered the whole time, if he’d see Kyoutani in passing at all that day.

He needs to say something but what? What would Kyoutani like to hear so he can calm down?

“Look,” He starts, “I’m not sure if you remember what you said to me at the staff party last weekend, and considering what you heard Matsukawa just said, if that’s really how you feel, I’m not freaked out about it or anything.” He says calm as he can. Talking with Kyoutani is difficult sometimes. When they were younger, they either argued or ignored each other. As time went on though, through out the years, they’ve both matured and kind of became friends.

Kyoutani casts his gaze down at the ground. Silence falls in between them for a long minute before Kyoutani sighs out a shaking breath.

“Sorry about that.” He hears Kyoutani say, his voice strained.

“Don’t be,” Yahaba shakes his head and continues on, “and who knows, if you wanted to ask me out right now or in the future, I don’t think I would object.”

He hears Kyoutani swallow and Yahaba sees the other is gazing up at him through thick short eyelashes. In that moment, Kyoutani doesn’t seem like a buff scary cop. He looks up at Yahaba in awe and it fills Yahaba with a strange warmth, because receiving that kind of look from him is new and exciting.

_Oh god._

Kyoutani’s eye narrow on him. “So you’d go out on a date with me?”

Yahaba chuckles and it feels like all his worries has been lifted, “I just said I would, didn’t I?”

Even with Yahaba’s confession, Kyoutani still doesn’t look all convinced and this is starting to feel out of hand. _How can he convince the man he wants this?_ He wonders as he stares at the scarf hanging around Kyoutani’s neck. And then, like a lightning bolt hitting the ground, an idea comes to mind.

Yahaba grabs the scarf on both sides and before he can be bothered to look at Kyoutani to see his reaction to that, he quickly swoops in and lightly kisses Kyoutani’s cheek that is rough to the touch but pleasantly warm.

Yahaba pulls back, still shivering, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. He’s too distracted by the circle shape Kyoutani’s lips make in surprise, gawking at him.

Yahaba grins, confident that he’s ending this night with a date to look forward to and an end to all his worries. “Well?”

Kyoutani blinks twice, before he composes his posture again. His shoulders finally sag but a new vibrant glow is coming from him. Even the permanent black circles around his eyes don’t seem so dark.

Kyoutani clears his throat before staring right back at him as he properly asks, “Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow?”

An uncontrollable laughs escapes him, maybe because he’s feeling giddy because subconsciously he wanted this all along. “Yes.” He answers, his teeth chattering.

“You should go back inside. Come on, I’ll walk you back to Iwaizumi’s.” Kyoutani suggests and head back to their friend’s apartment building.

On the way there, they walk side by side, not touching but close to one another. Yahaba was trying to feel some of the heat coming off of Kyoutani.

Their feet crunch over the snow and as they’ve almost made it to the building, Yahaba hears Kyoutani mumble out in excitement, “Oh my god.”

_Oh my god is right._


End file.
